But after many years of slothful obscurity with Calypso little remains in the celebrated name of Odysseus. On his journey to Phaecia he loses even his clothes and his handsome appearance "Grimy with salt he was a gruesome sight,"(6.136-137). He had no possessions at all, and to approach Nausicaa he had to hold a branch in front of his nakedness, and yet Homer still refers to Odysseus as noble and great, as though trying to retain the heroes" noble structure and dignity.
So the noble Odysseus crept out from under the bushes, after breaking off with his great hand a leafy bough from the thicket to conceal his naked manhood.
(6.127-129).
Thus only his wits and courtesy were left to the great hero.
He decided that as the lady might take offence if he embraced her knees it would be better to keep his distance and courteously plead his case. In the end, his address was both courteous and full of subtlety: .
(6.145-148).
The Odyssey is not, then only a journey of physical endurance for Odysseus; the survival of his heroic stature and his reputation are put to the test. He has to come back from the very verges of civilization and of humanity; and to do so he has to show patience as well as cunning. He must never give himself away until he is sure of the other party; and so again and again there are scenes of testing- Odysseus even tests his old father after the danger has past. He always keeps his guard up. The only time it fails is when his wife out-tests him with the secret of the construction of their bed; Penelope shows herself worthy of Odysseus (Book 23). .
Odysseus" heroic characteristics are constantly made aware of throughout the poem, and yet Homer stills renders the reader to the reality that Odysseus is still just a human man and not one of the immortal gods. His human vulnerability is written in such passages as when he makes his last marine transition to Ithaca (an event he has been longing for twenty years); he sleeps:.
